Two Men In Jail After Traffic Stop Turns Into Shooting

WILLIAMSBURG — No one was hurt in the brief exchange near businesses and apartments.

Two men are in jail and a Williamsburg police officer is on administrative leave after an exchange of gunfire near the Williamsburg Shopping Center Saturday night.

No one was injured in the brief shootout, which occurred behind several Richmond Road businesses and near apartments inhabited by local college students, Williamsburg Police spokesman David Sloggie said.

Derrick Thomas McCoy, 25, of James City County, is charged with attempted capital murder and assault with a firearm. Paul George Henderson, 24, of Williamsburg, is charged with driving with a suspended license and possession of a stolen firearm.

Sloggie said the incident began around 8 p.m. when an officer pulled over a car on Matoaka Court after seeing it spin tires and pop over a curb. Sloggie said two men were told to stay in the car during the traffic stop, but one man kept getting in and out, and eventually ran from the vehicle into a wooded area behind Master Cleaners on Richmond Road.

Dale Shouse, another officer who helped respond to the call, found the man in the woods. Sloggie said the man walked to within 20 feet of Shouse, and then fired two shots at him with a 9 mm handgun. Shouse returned fire, and the man ran away and slipped through a hole in a nearby fence, Sloggie said.

McCoy was located about a half-hour later, hiding underneath a trash compactor behind Marshall's. Police recovered a gun from him at that time.

Sloggie said police are listening to an audio recording of the shots captured by the police cruiser on Matoaka, and sending the weapons, shell casings and slugs to a lab for analysis. He said McCoy had no outstanding warrants.

Henderson was arrested at the traffic stop after it was found that his license was suspended and a 22-caliber handgun in his car was reported as stolen in Hampton.

As is routine police policy whenever a weapon is fired, Shouse was placed on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.

Both McCoy and Henderson are being held without bond at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. *